Church Harvest Ballintoy

Ballintoy Parish Church. Ballintoy ecclesiastical parish. ... more

by Paul Morgan

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Price

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Dimensions

20.000 x 16.000 x 0.500 inches

Title

Church Harvest Ballintoy

Artist

Paul Morgan

Medium

Painting - Oil On Canvas

Description

Ballintoy Parish Church. Ballintoy ecclesiastical parish.
This work was inspired by the outstanding structure of the Parish church located outside the picturesque village of Ballintoy, Co. Antrim, N. Ireland. I was inspired by the rolling clouds and impending rain clouds juxtaposed to the golden fields of freshly harvested hay. In my mind I see the Church as an anchor tying land and sky together in a majestic dance of life, giving and death. I have added some additional information about the location for you on the Church and its history. The original is for sale and I can be contacted directly here on FAA or at pau1.morgan@btinternet.com

HISTORY OF BALLINTOY PARISH CHURCH
Modern Church
Ballintoy means 'town of the north' and the parish church, located a short distance from the town, appropriately enough, is one of the most northerly in the diocese of Connor. Modern day Ballintoy ecclesiastical parish is located in the barony of Cary, County Antrim, and comprises 27 townland denominations.
The church as it now stands is a replacement for an older structure and was completed in the year 1813 under the auspices of Revd Robert Trail to a plan drawn by Henry Wynne. In design, it is two bays in length, with a single north transept, the tower being retained from an earlier building. With passing years improvements and embellishments were added to the parish church. In June of 1857, a new organ was installed by Dublin based firm Telford & Telford, at a cost of ￿37 met by voluntary subscription. A very extensive renovation was undertaken in 1883 under the direction of Revd John McNeice. At this time, a new pulpit, pews, flooring, tiling, and heating were added, as well as repairs to the roof and spire. Further repairs needed to be made to the roof following considerable damage caused by a hurricane of December 1894. It is probable that the steeple, which was also damaged in this storm, was not replaced on the church tower at this time. Aside from the regular appendices one might expect to find adorning the walls of a church building, Ballintoy has a sundial affixed to the exterior wall on the west corner. Apparently, it has also been used to record tidal movements and is dated 1817. Given its date, it most probably was an instrument placed there by Revd Robert Trail, whose memory is immortalised in a beautiful stained glass window in the chancel, designed by Watson of Youghal and installed in 1902
Old Church
Although there is no precise date of construction it may be surmised that a place of worship was built on the present site at Ballintoy sometime during the first quarter of the seventeenth century. It is very likely that it functioned as a chapel of ease to nearby Ballintoy Castle which is built on the townland of Ballintoy Demesne. Since the church at Ballintoy is located on the northern extreme of the wider parish area, it is thought that worshippers may have attended at Billy, the official parish church prior to the formation of Ballintoy as a separate parochial unit. A much older religious establishment at Templastragh, possibly of pre-reformation origin, may also have served those in the vicinity of Ballintoy for a period up to the establishment of the first church there, or beyond. The first recorded incumbent of Ballintoy church is James Blare who served there in 1635. It is not certain if he was still there in 1641 when members of the parish and other local Protestant settlers came under attack from a group of insurgents led by James McColl MacDonnell. For those in the Ballintoy locality during the 1641 Uprising, the Castle and parish church were the safest places of refuge. Those seeking sanctuary here held out for four months, with the assistance of benevolent Father McGlaime, a Roman Catholic priest who covertly assisted with food supplies, until military relief arrived under Lord Antrim in May 1642. In the year 1663 Ballintoy church was rebuilt and was subsequently granted full parochial status, the area being formed out of the parish of Billy. At that time the number of townlands in the parish of Ballintoy amounted to 61, a figure that has been reduced to 27 in the modern parish due to re-alignments and boundary changes.

Uploaded

March 14th, 2013